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Here at Press Loft, we aim to make PR simple for everyone, whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience already under your belt. For those of you who are new to the world of PR and marketing, we understand things can be a little daunting at first, so we’ve pulled together a few top tips to help you maximise your reach on Press Loft.
First things first: Let’s talk images
They say ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’, and that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your PR. Your images are an extension of your brand identity, so it’s important to invest in crisp, high-resolution product photos that will both catch the journalist’s eye and make a statement if it goes to print.
When it comes to building your image library on Press Loft, it’s good to have a mixture of both cut-out images and lifestyles for journalists to choose from; Cut-out images give journalists a lot of flexibility when it comes to the layout of their features (say, for example, seasonal gift guides or a trend moodboard), so we see a higher rate of downloads for these. With that being said, gorgeous lifestyle imagery can make your brand stand out from the crowd, so they still have an important part to play. We recommend a (rough) ratio of 70% cut-outs to 30% lifestyles just so journalists have a good variety to choose from, and the more images the better!
Keywords are your (not-so-secret) weapon
Keywords are not something to be overlooked, in fact, they are one of the best ways to increase your visibility on the platform right from the get-go! These little descriptors allow journalists to navigate the image library and narrow down their search to find the perfect products for their piece. Dedicating a little time to fine tune your keywords will likely lead to better downloads and coverage, but there’s a few things to keep in mind before you dive in:
- Make sure the keywords you’re adding are relevant to your products – don’t be tempted to add random, unrelated descriptors just because they might be popular.
- Don’t be stingy – a good variety of keywords increases your product’s chances of being discovered on the site! We’d recommend at least 20 keywords.
- The best part – they can be updated as often as you want! Note the word update – it’s better to refresh and rotate through keywords as the seasons change or trends evolve rather than adding a few at the start and never looking back. Updating your keywords also gives your images a boost in the image library listings, so a little maintenance can go a long way in terms of downloads.
- Stuck for inspiration? Think of the product’s core colours, material, target audience – try to add variations of descriptors as well to increase your searchability (for example, don’t just add polka dot, add spotty, spots, dots, etc).
Get Collaborating
We get that collaborating with and reaching out to journalists/influencers can be intimidating at any stage in your brand journey, so we’ve done the work to make the whole process as stress-free as possible on our platform.
Setting up collaboration alerts
As social media has skyrocketed to the forefront of modern-day marketing, influencer outreach has become an invaluable tool for brands looking to attract a wider audience and build up their reputation. We’ve taken the stress out of organising collaborations with influencers by allowing brands to set up alerts and host the collaboration within the platform. These alerts can be tailored to fit your needs before being sent out to users in our influencer network who ‘match’ your requirements. Then it’s as simple as watching the applications come through, selecting a few you’d like to work with and sending through your agreement!
Pitch yourself to journalists by responding to requests
We have a growing network of journalists that utilise our image library to source images for upcoming features, but when they have a tight deadline or multiple topics to cover, they may prefer to submit a request or call-out on our platform to make their lives a little easier. This allows brands to submit any product images that fit their brief and potentially start building relationships with journalists that’ll lead to extra coverage – sounds good right?
A few things to keep in mind before responding to requests:
- Read the details of the request carefully
- Make sure your submissions are actually relevant – resist the urge to send images that don’t really fit, there will be plenty of other requests that’ll be better suited to your brand.
- If a journalist gets in touch for information – be sure to respond ASAP! They’re usually on a tight deadline, so late replies might lead to you losing out on coverage.
Introduce yourself with a press release
At its core, PR is all about story-telling, and what better way to do this than through a press release? A press release is not only a great way to shout about any new products or launches, but also an amazing way to give a little insight to who you are as a brand. Journalists receive hundreds of releases every single day, so take a little bit of time to create something that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Need some inspiration? Why not check out some of our top tips for writing a killer press release.
Keep your eye out for upcoming trends
Stuck for inspiration for your next press release or are your keywords needing a refresh? New trends can be a great way to repurpose older product images. Here at Press Loft we’ve got our fingers on the pulse to predict what’s going to be trending over the next few months for our brands and users – we post trends regularly on the website as we come across them (as well as predicting a good few ourselves) and try to give subscribers a heads up in our newsletter, but there are so many other avenues you can explore to find what’s going to be the next big thing. From magazines to popular TV shows to social media, (TikTok in particular has become an amazing indicator of upcoming trends over the last year) If a trend pops up that’s relevant to your products, use it to your advantage!
Create content that’s as unique as you!
Our content creation tool Studio gives you free access to hundreds of inspiring templates to create unique, eye-catching content directly from the image library in one click.Why not try creating moodboards to showcase your creative process, lookbooks to share with the press, promos to showcase your products or even GIFs to announce new launches!
What is Press Loft?
PR platform specialising in the home, gift and lifestyle sectors that helps thousands of brands to get their products into the press.
Our PR tools allow companies to easily secure press coverage & quality backlinks for SEO by connecting with our extensive network of +18,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers.
Did you know that we offer a FREE trial* of our PR tools (including Influencer outreach) for gifts and interiors brands? Click here to start your free trial and join over 1000 brands already using Press Loft for their business.
*Trial offer available for new members only
